[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 119 (Friday, June 20, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 35387-35388]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-14452]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[NRC-2012-0057]


Bioassay at Uranium Mills

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Regulatory guide; issuance.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing a 
revision to Regulatory Guide (RG) 8.22, ``Bioassay at Uranium Mills.'' 
This guide describes a bioassay program acceptable to the NRC staff for 
uranium mills and applicable portions of uranium conversion facilities 
where the possibility of exposure to yellowcake dust exists.

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2012-0057 when contacting the 
NRC about the availability of information regarding this document. You 
may access publicly-available information related to this action by the 
following methods:
     Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2012-0057. Address 
questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher; telephone: 301-287-
3422; email: [email protected]. For technical questions, contact 
the individual(s) listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section 
of this document.
     NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System 
(ADAMS): You may access publicly available documents online in the NRC 
Library at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. To begin the 
search, select ``ADAMS Public Documents'' and then select ``Begin Web-
based ADAMS Search.'' For problems with ADAMS, please contact the NRC's 
Public Document Room (PDR) reference staff at 1-800-397-4209, 301-415-
4737, or by email to [email protected]. The ADAMS accession number 
for each document referenced in this notice (if that document is 
available in ADAMS) is provided the first time that a document is 
referenced. Revision 2 of RG 8.22 is available in ADAMS under Accession 
No. ML13350A638. The regulatory analysis may be found in ADAMS under 
Accession No. ML110960341.
     NRC's PDR: You may examine and purchase copies of public 
documents at the NRC's PDR, Room O1-F21, One White Flint North, 11555 
Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852.
    Regulatory guides are not copyrighted, and NRC approval is not 
required to reproduce them.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Harriet Karagiannis, telephone: 301-
251-7477, email: [email protected]; or Casper Sun, telephone: 
301-251-7912; email: [email protected]. Both of the Office of Nuclear 
Regulatory Research, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 
20555-0001.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Introduction

    The NRC is issuing a revision to an existing guide in the NRC's 
``Regulatory Guide'' series. This series was developed to describe and 
make available to the public information such as methods that are 
acceptable to the NRC staff for implementing specific parts of the 
agency's regulations, techniques that the staff uses in evaluating 
specific problems or postulated accidents, and data that the staff 
needs in its review of applications for permits and licenses.
    The NRC issued Revision 2 of RG 8.22 for public comment with a 
temporary identification as draft regulatory guide (DG), DG-8051. This 
guide describes a method that the NRC staff considers acceptable for 
complying with the Commission's regulations concerning bioassay at 
uranium mills. It provides methods that the NRC staff considers 
acceptable to implement Part 20 of Title 10 of the Code of Federal 
Regulations, (10 CFR), ``Standards for Protection Against Radiation.''

II. Additional Information

    Draft Regulatory Guide, DG-8051, was published in the Federal 
Register on March 13, 2012 (77 FRN 14837), for a 60-day public comment 
period. The public comment period closed on May 11, 2012. Public 
comments on DG-8051 and the NRC staff's responses to the public 
comments are available in ADAMS under Accession No. ML13350A639.
    The NRC revised this guide for a better alignment with: (1) 10 CFR 
Part 20; (2) the internal dose assessment recommended by the 
International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP), Publication 
30, ``Limits for Intakes of Radionuclides by Workers''; and (3) the 
recommended bioassay interpretation method by ICRP Publication 54, 
``Individual Monitoring for Intakes of Radionuclides by Workers: Design 
and Interpretation.''
    Regulatory Guide, 8.22, Revision 2 also provides: (1) 
Recommendations based on the nephrotoxic analyses in NUREG-0874, 
``Internal Dosimetry Model for Applications to Bioassay at Uranium 
Mills,'' (Appendix A of the guide); and (2) the consensus standard of 
the American National Standards Institute/Health Physics Society (ANSI/
HPS) N13.30-2011, ``Performance Criteria for Radiobioassay,'' that is 
applicable for uranium mills.

III. Congressional Review Act

    This RG is a rule as defined in the Congressional Review Act (5 
U.S.C. 801-808). However, the Office of Management and Budget has not 
found it to be a major rule as defined in the Congressional Review Act.

[[Page 35388]]

IV. Backfitting and Issue Finality

    Issuance of this final RG does not constitute backfitting as 
defined in 10 CFR 50.109, 70.76, 72.62, or 76.76 and is not otherwise 
inconsistent with the issue finality provisions in 10 CFR Part 52, 
``Licenses, Certifications, and Approvals for Nuclear Power Plants.'' 
This final RG provides guidance to applicants for, and holders of, 
uranium milling licenses and some uranium conversion facility licenses 
on methods for meeting certain NRC regulatory requirements for 
bioassays in 10 CFR Part 20.
    Licensees may voluntarily use RG 8.22, Revision 2 to demonstrate 
compliance with the underlying NRC's regulations.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 17th day of June, 2014.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Thomas H. Boyce,
 Chief, Regulatory Guidance and Generic Issues Branch, Division of 
Engineering, Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research.
[FR Doc. 2014-14452 Filed 6-19-14; 8:45 am]
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